As a group, political consultants have terrible reputations. They're supposedly grifters, scammers, and embezzlers who line their pockets with donors' money while running uninspired, cookie cutter campaigns. And yet, even though everyone in Democratic politics seems to hate them, they almost always end up running campaigns. Amanda and Faiz talk with Tim Lim to find out why.

Tim Lim is a Democratic strategist, an entrepreneur, a leading voice in comprehensive media planning and yes – a political consultant. He is President of Lim Consulting Services and a Partner at the Hooligans Agency, a progressive creative agency. Tim most recently served on the National Finance Committee of Biden for President as well as for the Biden-Harris Transition. He also served as a founding Co-Chair for Gen44, the young professional arm of President Obama's re-election campaign and served on the National Finance Committee of the Hillary for America campaign in 2016.

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Georgia recently passed one of the most restrictive voting laws in the country, and many Republican-led state legislatures hope to pass similar bills. Amanda and Faiz speak with Ari Berman, a senior reporter for Mother Jones and the author of "Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America," to ask him, "how f*cked are we?"

They discuss new Georgia law, its implications for our democracy, and the racist reasoning behind the GOP's historical rationale for limiting the franchise. Then they look forward and examine the Democrats' options for expanding voting rights and their chances of persuading a couple fellow Democrats who are currently standing in the way.

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As workers in Alabama wait for their votes to be counted in the most consequential union election in recent years, Amanda and Faiz connect with two key organizers to answer the question, "How do you beat the most powerful company in the world?"

Jennifer Bates has worked at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, AL since early 2020 and has been a lead organizer in the union drive since September of the same year. She was born and raised in Marion, a small city in Perry County, AL. Some of her interests include singing, reading and motivational speaking.

Joshua Brewer, is the director of organizing, for the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union Mid-South Council. He has been organizing labor in the South since early 2016. Joshua is a husband, a father of three, and a former youth pastor. 

Jennifer and Joshua, along with fellow workers and organizers, have been working around the clock in a fight against one of the richest and most powerful companies in human history. In this episode of Battleground, they discuss their strategy, their motivation, and their hopes.

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David presides over his final episode as host of "Battleground" and hands over the reigns to our new hosts: Amanda Litman and Faiz Shakir.

Amanda is the co-founder of and executive director of Run For Something, which recruits and supports young progressives who want to run for local office. In the past four years, they've helped approximately 500 of them win elections. She's also a seasoned Democratic campaign operative who worked on President Obama's 2012 re-election campaign, Charlie Crist's 2014 gubernatorial campaign, and Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.

Faiz Shakir is one of the most experienced progressive strategists in the country. He was a senior advisor to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the political director for the ACLU, and the campaign manager for Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign.

David chats with Amanda and Faiz to find out why they got into politics, what bits of conventional wisdom in progressive politics they'd like to dispel, and how they envision the new version of "Battleground." Their first episode as the hosts of this podcast will premiere on Thursday, April 8th.

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Yamiche Alcindor is the White House correspondent for the PBS NewsHour and a frequent contributor on NBC and MSNBC. In 2020, she won the National Association of Black Journalists "Journalist of the Year Award" and the White House Correspondents’ Association's "Aldo Beckman Award for Overall Excellence in White House Coverage." Prior to joining PBS, Yamiche was a political reporter for The New York Times, a breaking news reporter for USA Today, and reporter for Newsday in Long Island NY.

Yamiche joins David on "Battleground" to discuss the role of white supremacy in American politics, the Covid relief bill, journalism in 2021, and Governor Cuomo's future.

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Although he is far too humble to admit it, the Rev. James Martin, SJ, is a beacon of moral clarity. He is the editor-at-large of "America" magazine, where he recently published the article "How Catholic Leaders Helped Give Rise to Violence at the U.S. Capitol," a consultor to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, and a best-selling author. His latest book, published this month, is "Learning to Pray: A Guide for Everyone."

Father Martin is also known for delivering the closing benediction at the Democratic National Convention last year and for maintaining a strong and unflinching presence on Twitter. David and Steve talk to Father Martin about the role religion played in the insurrection at the Capitol, the spell Donald Trump seems to have cast over some religious leaders, how to think about forgiveness in context of the insurrection, and the current state of American capitalism.

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